First things first - my name is Matthew Carson and multi-media art is my hobby (albeit a serious one). The unusual web address comes from three things. My art, my love of gothic things (symbolised by the raven) and my wife, Yvonne (whose name gets shortened to Yve) i.e. Yve's Raven Art. There's also a connection with one of my favourite pieces of literature - the Sandman comic series written by Neil Gaiman - the character Eve (the way 'Yve' is pronounced...) has a raven called Matthew - a cool coincidence for me. Anyway, on to more serious things...
Although I studied art to A-Level standard and have retained an interest in all things creative, this was my last formal training. I continue to teach myself photography (on a Minolta Dimage S304 originally and now a Canon Powershot G6) and the disciplines of computer image manipulation (adding scanned images, objects and text to my pictures), via the fine products from Adobe and Jasc. As such, I consider myself to be an amateur in these realms, but look forward to producing even better work as my skills improve - with your support and encouragement.
My
artistic journey began again in 2002 with a submission of 5 pieces to the one-night
Manchester Prayer Network Exhibition at the Lowry Lyric Theatre.
This was seen by several hundred visitors - a good start I think you'll agree.
Over the next year I produced another 15 images in time for my second exhibition
- six weeks in the Wesley Owen bookshop on Deansgate, Manchester. The collection rose to 47 for the 2004 Mind Body Spirit Exhibition at the G-Mex
and is constantly increasing. Some of these were shown at the Manchester Cathedral event Resonance later that year. I produced another 3 images to
complement for the 'A Cry From The Depths'
Exhibition at Sacred Trinity (Chapel St, Salford) during Easter Holy Week 2005. In June 2006, I will be showing at the 'Creation And Creativity' Exhibition at Nexus (Manchesters' Northern Quarter) and hope to show a couple of pieces at the Stockport Open Art Exhibition in July.
I regularly have examples on show at ARA - a club-like event for the gothic/metal/alternative scene in Manchester (www.aranights.com). 2006 also sees the birth of the Manchester Gothic Arts Group, which I have founded with Kolyn Amor and Liz Yates. Together we explore the relationships between art, spiritual expression and the gothic world. An inaugural exhibition is planned for later in the year.
I have a strong belief in Christ and as a result a number of my images have spiritual overtones, some stronger than others. Sometimes this is by design, other times it happens without me realising it. Added to this is a liking for the gothic side of life, which some may think is contrary to my beliefs, but which I think is often complimentary - a concept I enjoy exploring. I hope that regardless of personal belief, you find my work pleasing to the eye and/or inspirational and challenging.
I've categorised the collection into six broad areas, but it's interesting to see how these sometimes cross over each other:
These pieces of art hopefully ask questions and prompt thought processes and discussion, but can also be just pretty pictures. Enjoy.
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